Amex phishing tackle

Brazen phishing fraudsters are using counterfeit versions of American Express’s own identity theft prevention scheme as a scam lure.

SafeKey, Amex’s name for 3D Secure technology, adds an additional layer of security to online transactions and is designed to help prevent identity theft. Fraudsters have turned the purpose of the program on its head with a new run of phishing emails, security researchers at Comodo’s Threat Research Labs report.

In addition to the customer’s Amex info, the scam seeks to harvest all manner of other personal data – names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, mothers' maiden names and even the response to a security question. The Amex SafeKey phishing scam first surfaced in March before flaring up again over the summer and again last week. ®